Groundwork

“This is how I see it. If you asked me six months ago what I’d be doing now, I’d have exactly one item right.” Over the past few days, the routine had fallen into Carbon feeding him and then disappearing for long periods of time. She was giving him regular updates on what she was doing in regards to the engines. So far it was mostly cleaning up the damage, with the occasional technical task that went way over his head.

“And what is that?” Carbon held his bag of pea soup out to him.

“I would be in space. That’s the thing I’d be spot on about. But I’d be doing stuff. Important stuff. Out there, helping Humanity towards its future and all that manifest destiny bullshit they put in the movies.” He took a sip before ending his bitter rant. “Not just sitting here eyeball-deep in medigel.”

“You are recuperating from remarkably severe injuries.” She said it like hearing it out loud would make him feel better.

“I shouldn’t even have injuries. I should have flown better.” Alex clenched his jaw and exhaled through his teeth. “I shouldn’t have screwed up.”

Carbon sighed and closed her eyes. “There was nothing you could have done better. I do not say that to make you feel better, it is the truth of what happened. See that, and see that you will be fully repaired in a matter of weeks.”

“But I can’t do anything now.”

“Would you feel better if I shut the mediboard off?” Carbon studied him as she sipped her lunch bag, clearly annoyed, her antennae and eyebrows pulled low. “Then you can assist me in engineering by bleeding on everything.”

“That’s stupid.”

“That is the alternative in this situation.” She shook her head and finished whatever she had been eating. “Do not be so prideful that you deny yourself time to heal, particularly after such an unusual encounter.”

She had a point there. They had faced down two full Eohm fleets at once, and come away with just one casualty. Not bad for a ship small enough to classify as a cutter. “Still. I want to be able to do something and I can’t. All I can do is lay here.”

“Healing is something.”

“Yeah. It is.” He pursed his lips and sighed. “Do you think you could make this thing put me under for a week or two? Until I’ve got more of my body back?”

“I do not think that would be a good idea.” Carbon recoiled at his question, setting herself spinning away gently until she steadied herself with the wall.

“Yeah?” He gave her a sideways look, the only kind he could manage at the time. “Why’s that?”

“You would starve.” She spat the answer out quickly, like someone who was hiding her actual motivation.

He was quite sure they had a feeding tube somewhere, or at least something that could be turned into one. Alex also wasn’t stupid, and while he didn’t understand why she didn’t like it, he would let it go. He laughed and grinned. “You know, I hadn’t thought of that.”

Carbon’s mouth twitched up into an uneasy sort of smile with a brief flash of small sharp teeth, then crushed it with the composure she normally wore. “Given all that has happened, it is understandable.”

Silence filled the small medical bay, the constant hum of the life support system the only thing to fill it. A heartbeat slipped by, then a moment and a minute after that.

Carbon cleared her throat and held up his packet of soup. “Do you want any more of this? I should return to my work.”

“Eh, nah. The ham is...” Alex stopped mid sentence. She wouldn’t have any point of reference for how the ham was supposed to be, no point in going down that road. “No, thank you.”

“Very well. I will return for dinner.” Carbon thumbed the door controls, the pair of heavy shutters sliding into the wall behind her.

“Wait a second.”

“Yes?” She turned around and gave him a curious look.

“Uh...” Alex really did want to know what problem she had with putting him under acually was. If the circumstances were different - say, if he wasn’t wholly reliant on her - he’d be more comfortable asking directly. If she took offence to that, well he was sure she wouldn’t let him starve. Mostly. This felt like a really bad idea now. “I was going to ask you something but it just slipped my mind. Sorry.”

“Very well.” The curious look stayed put as she turned back towards the hall. “Perhaps you will remember it later.”